Mid-year status check

The year is half way through and here are my stats so far:

Running: 1011.5 miles
Strength training: 24.5 hrs
Yoga: 19 hrs

Last year my total running miles were 1440, so I'm well on my way to improving on that this year. In January, I didn't declare an official mileage goal but stated that 2000 would nice. If I can keep it up, that looks very doable. Now I just need to get some more races scheduled for the second half of the year to make sure that happens!

My goal for strength training was 1 hour a week so I'm just shy of that. I think I can pick it up and meet that goal. I've been taking a yoga class at work one day a week during the lunch hour. I've missed most of June but have registered for twice a week during July and August. I've discovered that I really don't like yoga that much. I like to move faster and have a short attention span for holding poses. I'm always looking at the clock. But I think its good for me so I'm going to stick with it. Especially since its so convenient and inexpensive at work.

Saturday's run

Saturday, Sharon and I went back out to the gorge to run the Herman Creek trail. In April we ran a slow run here, which was hindered by creek crossings and lots of blow downs which we had to scramble over. We were never exactly sure how far we had traveled since we had to turn back when we lost the trail in the snow. Despite the many trail options in the gorge, we wanted to head back to this locale to satisfy our curiosity of how far we had gone that day.

This time the creek crossings were much quicker. Most of the blow downs were still there so we were slowed again by having to climb over them. No snow this time. But as we got farther along we reached areas of the trail that were quite overgrown. I remembered these plants from April when they were just tall sticker-filled stalks. However, this time they had large, elephant ear leaves that were covered with stickers. (Back home, I discovered these plants are called Oplopanax horridus (horridum)
or Devil's Club - very aptly named!) Normal (ie. smart) people might have turned back, but we were determined to find the turn-off to Mud Lake. We got to the bowl where we had turned back in April. Instead of snow-covered, it was Devil's Club covered! But we pushed our way through and just as we thought we should turn back, we saw that the trail would soon reach the trees again. And then after just a few switchbacks, there it was, the spur to Mud Lake at mile mark 9.3. So our estimate of making 9 miles on our trek in April was just about right! Overall it was a good run, although still very slow due to our various obstacles. We ran a lot more of the hills and I practiced letting off the brakes on the long downhill at the end. I don't think I'll run this trail again for a long time. There are a couple of other trail options in the immediate vicinity, as well as a number of trails I want to try that are closer to town.

Sunday's run

This morning as I was dozing in bed I felt incredibly anxious about my training for the 50 miler. I think I may have peaked too early and I'd really like to get in another long, 30+ mile run. Unfortunately I can't find any convenient races that will help me accomplish this goal so I'll have to do it on my own. Coming back from a week off in Florida, I really felt like I'd lost my drive. But yesterday's run/hike in the gorge went a long way to getting back that "in training" feeling.

Today, I had to wait until Marc returned from a run up to Larch mountain with a friend, so I wasn't able to get started until mid-afternoon. It was warm but not hot, but I'll take it as the start of my heat training. I went up to Forest Park and did 16.5 out and back on Leif Erikson. I was hoping to do more, but I had 10 as a minimum and everything after that was gravy. I finally decided that I would turn around at 8, but missed the mile marker so turned around at 8-1/4 to make the extra 1/2 mile. Today's run was more of a mental challenge and I'm satisfied with the outcome.

This week topped out at 57....a nice comeback from 3.33. I have another hard week ahead. No goals for total mileage, but if I can manage a single long run of 30+ next weekend I'll be happy.